'Searching for Sugar Man' Star Rodriguez to Play Coachella, Glastonbury

Hal Wilson

The formerly reclusive troubadour will take the stage at two of the world's biggest music festivals in the coming months.

Singer-songwriter Rodriguez, the breakout star of award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man, will perform at two of this year's biggest music festivals: April's Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, held in Indio, Calif., over two weekends, as well as the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival, which takes place June 26-30 near Pilton, Somerset and attracts some 135,000 attendees.

It's a long way from Detroit, where the reclusive troubadour has lived for his entire life -- mostly unnoticed until Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul sought him out for a movie about his unexpected popularity in South Africa. In fact, Rodriguez's "musico-politico" songs were so impactful that the country's pro-Apartheid government banned his albums, yet they lived on as bootlegs.

Rodriguez, who was hailed as a folk hero in the tradition of Bob Dylan when his career launched in the 1970s, had never seen any significant sales or royalties, as his two releases were considered virtual flops stateside. But 40 years later, those aspirations are finally being realized as the singer and guitarist is steadily becoming a household name all over the world, while the movie that made him famous for a second time is nominated for an Academy Award and has grossed more than $5 million in box office receipts.

No official word yet on other acts booked for Coachella, which has seen aggregate attendance top 200,000, but among the rumored names for this year's lineup are the Rolling Stones, Daft Punk and Phoenix. As for Glastonbury, Rodriguez tells The Hollywood Reporter that he's slated to perform an evening set.

An album of music from the movie Searching for Sugar Man, released by Sony Legacy, is currently No. 12 on the Billboard Soundtracks chart.